More than 30 million Americans play fantasy sports each year, Alabama professor says
Al.com – Sept. 9
Do you think you have what it takes to be the general manager of a professional sports team? Join the 35 million Americans participating in fantasy sports each year, sports researcher Andrew Billings says. According to a UA press release, Billings, the Ronald Reagan Endowed Chair of Broadcasting at the University of Alabama, has co-authored a book titled “The Fantasy Sport: Games within Games,” which explores how fantasy leagues are growing and changing the industry. “It’s that desire to control your own destiny,” Billings said in the release. “Fantasy feeds the notion that you may not have the skills to be Kobe Bryant, but you have the skills to be a general manager. It’s Seinfeld’s George Costanza sitting in his office wheeling and dealing to make the trades that he thinks will make the Yankees the best team.” Billings said fantasy league participation is having an effect on the greater sports industry — his research indicates that higher NFL ratings correlate to fantasy league play.
UA, Bryant Museum to celebrate legendary coach’s 100th birthday with events, book, film
Al.com – Sept. 9
The University of Alabama and the Bryant Museum will commemorate legendary Crimson Tide football coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant’s 100th birthday with a variety of activities and events. Coach Bryant would have celebrated his centennial milestone on Sept. 11, 2013. Plans include new additions to the Bryant Museum’s section on the coach and a new book and a new UA Center for Public Television documentary about Bryant’s life. The museum has remodeled the Bryant displays in the exhibit hall as part of the celebration, adding trophies and information about plays and players from the Bryant era at the Capstone, according to UA.
Tuscaloosa News – Sept. 10
Danbury News-Times (Conn.) – Sept. 9
See where Alabama universities rank in latest U.S. News report
Birmingham Business Journal – Sept. 10
Colleges and universities in Alabama and Birmingham fared well in the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings. Below are the rankings in each category as well as what the report says about each school. National Universities … No. 86 University of Alabama … “Founded in 1831, University of Alabama is a public institution. University of Alabama follows a semester-based academic calendar and its admissions are considered more selective.”
Affordable Healthcare Act will affect uninsured in the next few months
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Sept. 10
There are a couple dates coming up: Oct. 1st, and Jan. 1st, and I spoke with a University of Alabama School of Medicine doctor Lea Yerby who tells me what the uninsured need to be aware of as the clock ticks towards an individual mandate. “The online marketplace will open October 1st, and that’s where you will go to enter your information and find out what your options are. Now that is if you do not have employer-based coverage, and if you do not have your own coverage,” Yerby said.
Students seeing need for social media classes
USA Today – Sept. 9
Marc Torrence noticed a change in his popularity after covering his first University of Alabama football game — he gained thousands of followers on Twitter. “Even if 10 or 15 other people are tweeting the same quotes from (head coach) Nick Saban at a press conference, I get tons of retweets,” Torrence said. “Everyone wants to know what Nick Saban is saying.” Torrence isn’t the only college student increasing his professional interest in social media. As schools across the nation develop social media programs, students are finding out it might be a necessity.
WMAZ (Macon, Ga.) – Sept. 9
Matt Gage of UA’s Office of Archaeological Research discusses artifacts found in Tuscaloosa dig
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – Sept. 10
Tuscaloosa has more than its fair share of historic homes and sites. Architecture, the antebellum period, even archaeological sites. Lucy Murphy is here from the Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society and she’s brought Matt Gage from the University of Alabama Office of Archaeological Research to tell me more about it.
CNN Dialogues Modern Marchers: Lessons From the Front Lines of Social Change
Vahi.Patch.com – Sept. 12
Join the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference at Emory University, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights for the eighth CNN Dialogues forum to engage with social activists who are taking lessons from the past while expanding ideas about justice, inclusion and opportunity to impact the 21st century. CNN Dialogues welcomes moderator Michaela Pereira, CNN news anchor for “New Day” and esteemed panelists Minh Dang, executive director of Don’t Sell Bodies; Dr. Arthur Dunning, professor and senior research fellow at the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center; Tara Roberts, founder of Girltank and Michael Skolnik, political director to Russell Simmons and president of GlobalGrind.com.
Student overcomes brain tumor
Crimson White – Sept. 10
Anna Montgomery was an active student in her freshman year at The University of Alabama before she started to get sick. Montgomery was involved with her sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, and loved going to class for her major, sports broadcasting. She was even Miss Teen Alabama 2012. But in December, she started to get headaches every day. After that, more symptoms started to appear. “Everything started to add up,” Montgomery said. “I was just wanting to sleep all the time, and that’s not like me, having horrible pain in my nose. I was so confused. It was debilitating.” … Montgomery’s doctors initially believed she had a sinus infection brought on by a staph infection … On June 28, Montgomery found out that she had a 1.2 centimeter pineal cystic tumor sitting on her pineal gland, which regulates sleeping patterns. Though it was benign, the tumor was also resting on Montgomery’s optic nerve, causing visual disturbances along with the fatigue, pain and sleeping issues.